Fitful Choices
by Uchiha Tsakare
Summary: Sakura, now more than just a Jounin, knew that with her rank came missions...but she never thought she would end up with one particular mission: the only one she knew, deep down, that she could not do. [SasuSaku]
1. A Mission

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

A/N: My first Naruto fic...I hope you all like it somewhat. : ) Parts of the story are purely made-up; others are from the manga, I guess spoilers if you haven't read past the Sasuke arc. A/U, I suppose? You be the judge…

She stared blankly into her cup, watching the somewhat opaque liquid swirl gently as it settled. The passing young woman spared the younger female a brief glance before shaking her head and going back to her duties as a waitress at the Ichiraku Noodle Bar. She knew her customer well enough; she was, after all, their second largest source of income, second only to her teammate, Uzumaki Naruto.

"Ayame."

Hearing that simple word - her name - startled the waitress, and quickly she hastened to obey. Yet she could not help but frown disapprovingly, even as she set down the cup in front of her patron, who mumbled her thanks, her head resting on the table. Ever since the pink-haired girl turned eighteen - and attained more than just the rank of Jounin - she had been drinking each time before she went on a mission. The larger the mission, the more Sake she consumed.

And this...was the most Ayame had _ever_ seen her consume in one sitting.

In her life, the waitress had seen people respond differently to the alcoholic beverage. Most had passed out after the second or third bottle. There was one kid with some ugly bowl-ish haircut who had gone into a drunken fit after merely half a bottle of Sake - and effectively trashed half their place, too. There was one silver-haired guy (whom she secretly harboured feelings for) who could hold about two bottles or so. Then there was this _other_ silver-haired guy, who was much older and would constantly pinch her bottom as she walked by; him, she used to constantly see around Naruto. She remembered he could handle at least five bottles before becoming piss drunk and needing the Hokage herself to come and drag him out of there by his ears. Herself, she could barely manage one and a half bottles before she became sick and intimately attached to the washroom.

Yet here was the Kunoichi in front of her, lifting her head off the desk and uncorking the bottle. A Sake bottle could fill five of their cups to the brim. Even as she absently watched out the corner of her eye, she saw the pink-haired girl pour herself another cup. Having kept a running total, this cup was her thirty-sixth.

Mentally, Ayame did the math. Then, she shivered.

It was amazing, in some sick way.

Haruno Sakura was on her eighth bottle - and she wasn't the least bit drunk at all.

---

_Office. Ten sharp._ The note had read. _Alone_.

The message was not signed, but it was obvious whom it was from. Tsunade-Sama had a very particular way of writing notes. Short. To the point. Brief. And very, very vague.

Sakura was not fooled though. With the tension still going on amongst the Hidden Villages, which had been going on for more than three years, the times where she actually sat down with her mentor for a mere talk was rare and few between. There was simply no time for such a luxury.

No, this was an assignment, and a major one at that. She could tell that by the unusual lack of words in the note. It was shorter than usual, which normally consisted of at least five words.

Hence the drinking. She didn't know what kind of a mission it was - but she suspected it was huge, and the most dangerous one she'd had in a while. The suspicion saw her at Ichiraku the moment it opened, drinking down as much as she could.

The thing about her, she realized, was that no matter how much Sake she consumed, she would never _ever_ get drunk. She didn't know why. She simply could _not_. Unlike most others too, she was immune to the after-effects of the alcohol. The downside to that was that it did little to drown her sorrows, as it was reputed to do. All it did was numb her. Numb her to the point that thoughts faded and instinct took over, to the point that pain meant nothing to her; she could deal with and dish it out in the same breath, and it wouldn't matter. In a sense that _was_ her "drunkenness", losing all semblance of emotion, with the capability of becoming a cold-hearted assassin, were the situation to demand it. The effect was temporary, but it lasted for a good long while, depending on the amount of Sake she drank. Obviously the more she took in, the longer her condition would last.

A far cry from the Haruno Sakura she used to be when she twelve.

But she supposed that was how she was able to become an Oinin. A Hunter-nin. From a branch of the ANBU, a Shinobi Hunter, one who specialized in hunting down missing-nins.

Missing-nins. That term brought to mind a certain teammate. No, a certain ex-teammate. A certain, black-haired, black-eyed -

She shuddered, reaching for the cup she had just poured. She didn't want to think about _him_. It had been nearly 6 years since he defected to Orochimaru, other legendary sannin along with Jiraiya and Tsunade, in his thirst of power. There had been a decree put up by the Godaime herself that he was to be executed on sight if he ever stepped foot into Konohagakure, issued as a result of the charred bodies of three jounins that had been found in the outskirts of town. All three were leaf ninjas barely older than her who had been killed, her one-time sensei Kakashi had grimly declared, by the famous Chidori that only he and one other knew.

There was a rumour that his body had become a vessel for Orochimaru, and that the teammate she once knew was no more. But she knew better.

Lifting the cup to her lips, she took a long pull, then set the cup back down on the table none too gently.

And in front of her eyes, the cup cracked.

A chill went down her back.

This...was not a good omen.

---

Tsunade rubbed her eyes in exhaustion, flopping in her chair and glaring out the window in deep thought. Not only did she have to endure three assassination attempts within the span of an hour, but she had just received news that the Tsuchikage had just been murdered by his top advisor, which threw the already tense state into further disarray. It was bad timing for this to happen, especially at this time, for it was only recently that the Hokage - herself - had been able to discuss possible alliances - tentatively - with the reclusive state. The assassination meant that talks with the Earth Country would have to be temporarily halted as the country went into mourning, and began the process of choosing the next Tsuchikage - and who knew how long that would take.

That left her back at square one, with Konoha's only ally as the Wind country, ruled by the Godaime Kazekage of eighteen years, Sabaku no Gaara, who was currently in the village with his siblings Kankurou and Temari.

War was on the horizon, and everyone knew it.

However, that wasn't the most pressing thought on her mind. Not only anyway.

This morning she had checked the papers with her lottery ticket in hand...and realized, to her horror, that she had won.

This would make it twice in a row.

Both within the past week.

_She, Tsunade, the Legendary Sucker, had struck big within the past week _twice.

...if that wasn't as good a sign as any, then she didn't know what was.

Something colossal was about to break loose - but she didn't know what. The sense of unease floating in the air had been picked up by even the youngest of the Academy. Kakashi had been right when he said, "it was only a matter of time before news got out about the possibility of war".

And with the Tsuchikage dead, it seemed even more probable. She frowned at the direction her thoughts had taken her. The other Kages were either undecided, or completely unwilling to take sides; the Raikage belonged to the former, the Mizukage to the latter. She suspected, however, that both were in support of Orochimaru, for reasons unknown.

And if that were to be the case...

She sighed, running a hand through her hair. On top of it all, Jiraiya was nowhere to be found. He had completely disappeared; even Naruto did not know where he had gone.

It wasn't the fact that he had disappeared; oh no, he did this often. It was the fact that he was missing right _now_.

Tsunade cursed. "Where the _hell_ are you, Jiraiya?" She slammed her fist on her desk - only to have a line form cleanly down the table where she hit it, so that it fell apart in a mess of dust and wood. The Hokage groaned aloud in frustration. Not _again_!

"There goes another table." The dry voice came from the door. Tsunade glared irritably at the speaker.

"I'll get another one."

"Isn't that unfair to the trees, Tsunade?"

Harder glare at the lack of honorifics. "What happened to the days where you actually treated me with respect?"

Half-hearted shrug "Dead and gone."

"Someone's morbid."

Her guest did not reply, merely leaning against the wall. "I got your note." She said, gesturing at her pocket.

Tsunade nodded. "Yes. You've probably already guessed it's a mission."

Sakura nodded, her face neutral. The crack in the cup still lingered in her mind.

"And you're the only capable Oinin for the job."

A chill ran down her back. This wasn't praise; more matter-of-fact. She waited.

"But...your past makes me wonder if you're up for it."

The eighteen year old bristled. She, incompetent? Inner Sakura, who still resided in her but cropped up less frequently, began raging furiously.

Tsunade paused.

"How old are you?" The question was innocently posed. Sakura frowned.

"Eighteen, as of March."

"Parents?"

"Both alive, doing great." Her frown deepened. What was Tsunade trying to get at? She should know the answers to all these - pointless - questions.

"What rank are you?"

"Oinin."

"How old am I?"

"Old enough." The questions were becoming more and more bizarre.

"And do you still love Sasuke?"

That question was _way_ off-topic, off-limits, and it caught her off-guard. She stared, speechless.

"What...kind of a question is _that_?"

Tsunade compressed her lips into a thin line.

"Sakura. We can't have emotions complicating things up."

No way.

The pink-haired girl straightened, eyes blazing. "Tsunade-sama - "

"You, above all, should know that a ninja should never show his or her feelings, nor let it interfere during a mission."

" - I _won't_ accept it!"

"Sakura - " The Hokage's temper was slowly rising.

"I won't!" The Oinin shouted.

"You _can't_!" Tsunade roared, rising in frustration, and Sakura faltered a little. Her eyes still raged though, and she could not stop trembling.

She could handle other any job. _Any other job_. But not this one. She simply couldn't.

Tsunade forced herself to sit back down, calming a bit. "I'm sorry. You just can't not take it. There's no one else as experienced as you who can handle the job..."

"But - "

"...simply because there is no one _left_ who can take the job."

A shocked silence. Sakura could not believe her ears.

"You're lying," She finally whispered, even though deep in her heart, she sensed the truth in her teacher's words. And even though a part of her was terrified at the implied assignment - oh, she knew exactly what it was - another part of her...twinged excitedly at the thought of seeing _him_ again.

The real Sakura was scared. Inner Sakura was thrilled, and was shouting enthusiastically, pumping her fists into the air, saying something akin to this being "fate" that they should meet again.

Tsunade seemed to sense this though. "Haruno Sakura, listen to me. He is _not_ the boy you once knew. He won't hesitate to kill you without a second thought, and you mustn't give him the opportunity to even have the first strike."

Sakura jerked a nod, trying to recover her lost composure. "Fine." Then turned to leave.

Tsunade leaned back into her chair, a bit apprehensive. "So you know your assignment then?"

The pink-haired girl reached for the knob, her fingers closing on the cool metal. "To bring - _him_ back here." She replied coolly. She couldn't even say his name. "That -"

"_No_." The word cut through the air icily. Sakura's hand froze on the knob. Did Tsunade just say no? She must not have heard correctly. Slowly, she turned back to the Hokage, who was scrutinizing her closely.

"I did not ask you to bring him back here, nor do I _want_ him to be brought back here." She slowly said, watching the girl's reaction, noting the slight trembling of Sakura's lower lip.

"Then?" Her voice was steady; for that the Godaime gave her points.

"Your assignment," She said after a brief pause. "is to kill Uchiha Sasuke."

---

If you liked this, if you want me to continue this, please review! NO FLAMES!


	2. The Sneeze

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

A/N: A/U-ish.

Just a few things I'd like to say…to those who reviewed the first chapter (**Kiria Kare****, Aemkea raikujin, SakuraSasuke29, kasumi, grilledjellyfish, Reven-chan, psychicbunny, It.q.ryu. Shinobi Darkbeak, blackyuki, yin vs yang, daydreamer53221, Snotty Chim-Chim, Byakugan13, RunRAMENRun, Mimiru-Chan**) I want to send a **HUGE** thank you out to you all! I really had not expected such a response… so thank you, thank you, _thank you_!

Also, just a small thing about the other story I wrote, entitled "The Gift". I said that I wrote it in 5 minutes…ALL LIES. What I meant to say was that I posted it with 5 minutes to go, and had really, uh, done a quick type up in two hours ("quick"). So…I'm sorry if I misled people into thinking that I wrote that story so fast, because I didn't. :S

Either way, now that that's said and done…chapter 2! Was rushed to finish this...so yeah...

---

Because he wasn't prepared in the least bit, the sneeze caught him off-guard, and being precariously perched atop an unbelievably fragile-looking branch, the prodigy of a massacred clan and one-time ninja of Konoha fell with a thump to the grass. The tumble did little to hurt him, save bruise his pride, yet he still glowered vehemently at the heavens. The glare he shot the sky was heated enough to rival that of the burning sun beating down mercilessly on him. The sky was unfazed though.

Yet it wasn't the heat that was getting him so bothered. It wasn't the fall either. It was the fact that someone, somewhere out there, had mentioned his name.

And that someone, somewhere out there, was talking about _him_.

He narrowed his eyes dangerously, pulling himself to his feet, then lithely flipping back onto the branch, with every intention to resume his brooding, which had been interrupted by the unexpected sneeze.

But he couldn't. He couldn't get his mind off the sneeze. Such a simple occurrence, yet one which he couldn't erase from his mind.

Because Uchiha Sasuke never sneezed, and in the few times he did, it meant that something was about to happen.

He shivered. The sneeze, like a crack in a cup, like a chill down one's back, was a warning - for him, anyway. The last time he _had_ sneezed, he had walked headlong into three full-sized ANBU squads - how that happened he still didn't know - and damn near _lost_ in the ensuing fight. He probably would have, too, if it weren't for the timely appearance of Orochimaru. Except thinking about it, he wondered a tad bitterly if it was probably better if he _had_ died. He hated being in the sannin's debt.

Phrase that, he _hated_ the sannin's guts.

He gritted his teeth, his thoughts taking a whole new direction. Things he hated. Immensely. Orochimaru was just one of the people he absolutely hated with a passion.

_Orochimaru_.

Bastard. He was slowly rising in his "to kill" list for reasons Sasuke would never impart. He suspected the sannin knew this anyway, and that brought a savage smile briefly to his lips. He _hoped_ Orochimaru knew that he had almost surpassed him in terms of jutsus and strength. Once upon a time, he feared Orochimaru. Feared his power, his abilities, _him_.

One day, the tables were going to be turned, and he would make Orochimaru afraid of _him_, Uchiha Sasuke,.

Then there was another.

_Uchiha Itachi_.

Genin at age 7, Chuunin at age 10, ANBU Captain at age 13. Sharingan activation when he was 8, Mangekyou Sharingan activation when he was around 13 or so, give or take a few years - he couldn't remember exactly when - and current Akatsuki member. Behind Itachi's name was a long list of his accomplishments; attached to his name were a great many titles.

Genius.

Murderer.

_Brother_.

His temper rose, eyes growing flinty and hard, even as he felt his control on his chakra loosen slightly. It bubbled upwards with his rage, and there was a brief glow of blackish-blue energy swirling from his palms before he wrestled it under his control.

He balled his hands into fists angrily, yet the chakra inside him seemed to have a mind of its own, and fought with him for dominance. Chakra leaked out from his clenched hands, snaking slowly up his arms even as he shook in the effort of trying to contain the power that was seeping out of him slowly. A tingling began at the back of his eyes, like an itch that wouldn't go away. The cursed seal, imprinted on him six years ago, flared briefly, as it had been doing more and more recently, and he muttered an oath, doubling over silently. If he did not stop this power leakage soon, he was going to cause some serious damage to anything and everything within a radius of two miles - as was what happened the last time this occurred.

So he latched onto the one thing that could calm him down. The one thing that still kept him going despite all the hardships he'd been forced to endure. The one thing which kept him from fully succumbing to the darkness, to the tantalizing promise of absolute power at the cost of his sanity. The one thing that kept him _alive_, even after all these years.

Thing? No, not thing. _Person_.

The chakra raging in him slowed ever so slightly, as if hesitating.

_One girl._

Sasuke wrestled with it for control, sensing the balances tipping in his favour. The tingling in his eyes disappeared, as quickly as it had come.

_One emerald-eyed, pink-haired girl_.

His chakra flared quickly, a silent flash of darkness, as if putting up one last-ditch attempt to escape him.

_One Haruno Sakura_.

His chakra gradually returned to its docile state, and panting, he lay on the grass, wondering subconsciously how he ended up on the ground when less than a minute ago, he was still on the branch.

That was of little consequence. What mattered more was that his chakra had leaked out of him - again. This wasn't the first time it happened, nor would it be the last. Sasuke wished he knew why it happened - but he did not. All he knew was that it started the moment he started using Kinjutsu, forbidden techniques that Orochimaru prided in, and had been occurring with consistent frequency each time he lost his temper.

And the results were - devastating if he could not stop it in time. Beyond devastating. It was unpredictable, uncontrollable -

- and only stopped whenever he thought about one particular ex-teammate of his. One who most certainly _wasn't_ the one he used to refer to as "baka".

"It happened again?" The incredulous voice broke through his musings. Sasuke turned his head to regard the speaker coldly. Kabuto was surveying the area with wide eyes. He adjusted his glasses, his hand trembling slightly, a movement that was not lost on Sasuke.

"Hn." He said by way of answer, before getting up and stalking past Orochimaru's subordinate. Yet he could not resist looking behind him.

He had disintegrated the tree he had been perched on - and it had been, incidentally, a cherry blossom tree.

Another shiver went down his back. At least he didn't sneeze this time.

Yet he could not shake off the sense of foreboding that loomed over him. It was only a matter of time before something happened.

---

_And he had been right_.

He dodged the kick, parrying the swift punch. They separated. A brief pause, as dark eyes met masked ones. There was no time for thought, especially not against such a dangerous enemy. Shinobi hunters were one of the best at what they did, and any opening he gave would be exploited at his cost.

But then again, he too was the best at what he did, and very few actually rivalled him.

They had been fighting for half an hour already, and neither was relenting the slightest bit, nor slowing down. The oinin in front of him, he noted, had a huge amount of power and speed that quite possibly matched his. The only thing he hadn't tested yet was his opponent's jutsus. A smile ghosted across his lips. In that, he knew he was going to win.

His fingers became a blur as they flashed through the movement of his fire jutsu. He took a deep breath.

"_Katon! Ryuka No Ju_ - "

He never saw the fist that came in and connected with his jaw, cutting him off. He had not expected the punch to send him flying.

_Hell_, he hadn't even expected the ninja to even lay a finger _on_ him.

Fury laced with grudging respect found their way to his eyes. This was the first opponent he'd had in a long time who was forcing him to activate his Sharingan.

But no. He wouldn't. If things got too far out of hand, that was to be his trump card. He had no intention of revealing it so early in the game.

So he was going to try a different technique: intimidation.

"Do you know who I am?" He laughed, letting chakra flow around him. It surged around him hungrily in a frightening display of power, as if eagerly waiting to be unleashed upon the Hunter-nin who stood before him. Yet there was something about the assassin who caught his attention, something familiar which he could not place.

A nod, and the feeling of familiarity increased. "Indeed."

His heart skipped a beat, and inwardly, he frowned. The voice...was very feminine. Musical, with a touch of rawness. And for some reason, he was reminded of Team 7. "Then you must be crazy enough to challenge me, knowing who I am." He gathered his chakra. But the oinin in front of him was unfazed. Instead, a hand went up to the mask. A strange sound came from beneath it, and it took him awhile to realize that the Hunter-nin was - laughing at him. His eyes narrowed. What -

"Then you should know who I am," The mask came down enough to reveal emotionless eyes covered by strands of hair. Green eyes. Pink hair. A strangled sound erupted from his throat, disbelief and shock written on his face. "_Sasuke-kun_."

---

Liked it? Want me to continue? Please do review, and let me know what you think. No flames!


	3. Shinobi Saying Twenty five

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

A/N: A/U. Replies at end…because they're erm..lengthy? I really hope this wasn't awful…:S

_She went absolutely still, and stayed that way for a total of three seconds before whipping around to face the Hokage, with a look of pure incredulity etched on her face. Her eyes were a container for a myriad of emotions, the most overwhelming of which, Tsunade noted, was fear and anger. A tense silence commenced in the Hokage's office, broken first by Sakura._

_"What?" The slight shift in the tone of her voice as the young Kunoichi posed the simple question and exclamation was not lost on the Hokage. Sakura was unnerved - and mentally Tsunade wondered if she had made a bad decision in terms of assigning her former student this mission._

_Yet, really, there was no other choice. Because, like she had mentioned, there was no one else to take the job; everyone else that had been sent against him had all ended up dead or missing, and of all the remaining ninjas, Sakura was most probably one of the only ones who could engage in a fight with Sasuke and emerge _alive_, whether she won or not._

_There were two reasons to this. The first was simple: after all, she had been his teammate and friend, at one point in their lives, she and Naruto, with Kakashi as their sensei. If there was anyone who knew him better than perhaps himself, it was definitely one of those three._

_She wished with all her might that she could have sent either the blond or the silver-haired jounin, but the former of the two was on a mission of his own, and the latter of the two...was simply not expendable. That did not mean that Sakura _was_ expendable…but because of who she was, a Shinobi Hunter, her talents were needed more outside of Konoha than they were inside. As much as Tsunade hated to admit, losing Sakura would be less of a blow to the fire country than it would be if Kakashi were to perish._

_It was the truth, nothing but the harsh truth; but it was war, and in war, anything went._

_But she did have faith in Sakura's abilities, and that was the second reason why she chose to send Sakura. After all, the Hunter-nin had nearly surpassed her teachings, and thereby nearly surpassed _her_, the Fifth Hokage herself - which was by no means an easy feat. On top of that, Sakura had yet to fail even one of her missions. No matter how tough it was, or how long it took, or how many injuries she might have sustained, she would _always_ return with her given assignment completed._

_And that was why she had to send Sakura on this mission._

_Pity ran its course through Tsunade briefly. _Sakura_, she mentally whispered. _I'm sorry that you have to do this

_"I don't need to repeat myself." This was brusquely said. "You heard me fine the first time."_

_"WHY!" Came the heated shout, and before she could blink, Tsunade found Sakura looming over her, fists clenched, eyes smouldering as fury replaced the bit of fear that had only previously been present._

_"Don't," Tsunade said calmly, dangerously. "crowd me."_

_Eyes locked; one pair green, one pair brown. The strain in the room grew oppressive, thick, as neither was willing to break the silent contest of wills. The silence stretched as neither spoke a word. Frustration beset emerald orbs. Coolness permeated auburn pools. And through it all, the tension mounted, until it seemed as if a full-scale battle was on the verge of erupting between the two._

_But Sakura jerked her head to the side, breaking eye contact first and relieving some of the room's unseen pressure. She stayed that way, head firmly facing her side as if she had been slapped._

"_Why?" She repeated, her voice more controlled. "You know my feelings on this subject. Why the hell are you assigning me - this?"_

"_I've already told you. There's no other person who can take this job."_

"_There's Naruto…?" A pleading note entered her voice. Her eyes remained stubbornly averted. Tsunade sighed inwardly._

"_He left early this morning with a few others on a reconnoitre mission." She finally said. "And don't even ask about Kakashi," She added, and Sakura's lips compressed into a thin line. "Because you're not getting out of this mission."_

"_You did this deliberately," She spat bitterly. Tsunade clamped down on her rising anger. She should have anticipated the blame falling on her. "You - you - "_

"_This has _nothing_ to do with your feelings." The Godaime snapped. "This is purely politics. We will _lose_ this war if your _Sasuke-kun_ is on the enemy's side. Orochimaru wanted him right from the beginning, and now that he's had him for the last several years, who knows how strong the Uchiha has become?" She fell silent. "For all that we know…his body could have already been taken over by Orochimaru - "_

"_It hasn't." Sakura retorted, her head snapping around to face Tsunade, who arched an eyebrow_

"_How do you know this?"_

_Her one-time student looked away again silently, her jaw clenched._

_The Godaime gritted her teeth. Sakura was hiding something. But she didn't have time, for she had one – troublesome – person to see after the Kunoichi. "Never mind. I highly doubt I'd get anything out of you. Regardless, it's all the more reason for you to eliminate him _now_, before he _is_ taken over_._"_

_Silence once more. Sakura's shoulders slumped in defeat._

"_There…isn't a way I can _not_ do this?" She finally whispered. Subconsciously, Tsunade realized that this was the most display of emotion she had ever shown in a very, very long time…especially considering that she was under the influence of quite a lot of Sake. Oh, she knew the younger girl drank. Sakura was very much like the sannin herself._

"_No." She said shortly. "I'm not asking you to do this because I feel like it. I'm not even _asking _you to do this. I'm _telling_ you to do it…for Konoha." There was a brief pause. "No matter what, _remember_ the twenty-fifth Shinobi Saying."_

_An involuntary gasp escaped Sakura, one filled with an indeterminable amount of pain, even as she flinched visibly. Tsunade frowned, and made move to say something further, but was stopped as the other brought her head up sharply. Her face was now a blank slate, wiped clean of the emotions that had only just been scribbled all over her visage._

"_Hai." She said coldly, before turning on her heel and leaving without a further word._

_Yet those three words burned in her mind, even as she prepared herself physically and mentally for the mission. Three words. Three simple words. Three words that held immense symbolism for her._

---

Shinobi Saying twenty-five.

It was a saying she never ever forgot, out of the hundred some sayings that a genin was expected to learn. It was a saying she had followed almost religiously from the moment she became a Shinobi Hunter. It was a saying she had once told a client of theirs during Team Seven's very first A-rank mission.

It was a saying that applied disgustingly well in the current situation.

_Shinobi Saying twenty-five._

His jaw had gone slack in what she could only guess was shock. His eyes, those dark, beautiful obsidian eyes of his, held something akin to disbelief and utter surprise. In one quick glance, she took in his entire appearance, and realized that he hadn't changed all that much. He had grown much taller, towering over her by at least a head, still retaining that slender look of his that his never-ending gaggle of fangirls dreamt about running their hands over. He even looked the same, except that his boyish look was gone. Instead, replacing that childish beauty was a more striking, and subsequently more breathtaking, mature face.

"Sakura?" The confusion-laced voice that came from him was slightly deeper, bass-like, and had she not been under the effects of the Sake - she had consumed another few bottles before she left for good measure - she would have lost the battle right there and then.

"_Remember the twenty-fifth Shinobi Saying."_

Tsunade's words rose unbidden once more, and she mentally cursed for becoming distracted from her mission. What the _hell_ was she doing, standing there and observing him? He was distracted, caught off-guard. _Now was her chance._

So she acted, drawing her kunai and lunging. He stumbled backwards, those dark eyes of his widening further before they narrowed. He dived to the side, rolling and rising with shuriken in both his hands. A quick flick of his wrists, and it was _her_ turn to move.

'_A Shinobi must keep his emotions on the inside, no matter what the situation…'_

However, instead of tumbling to the side, she leapt into the air, her hands flashing through a set of seals. His eyes narrowed in recognition, and immediately she felt the build up of chakra coming from her enemy.

"_Katon!" _She sucked in a deep breath. _"Gokakyu no Jutsu!"_

Chakra bubbled rapidly from her chest upwards to her mouth, and fire exploded from her mouth as she expelled forcefully in his direction, coalescing into a huge fireball which sped unerringly to where he stood. The fiery ball blazed into the ground and splashed the surrounding trees - for she had attacked him in the forest - with flames, turning the surrounding landscape into an instant blazing conflagration. She landed soundlessly on a tree branch higher in the treetops, watching the inferno below.

"You knew you had no chance of nailing me with_ that_ jutsu," His voice coolly sounded from behind her. A smile ghosted across her lips. The chakra build-up she had felt was from him pooling his chakra at his feet, and using it to leap to safety a split second before the fireball engulfed him. The same thing he had done against one Haku way back during their days as team seven.

'…_you must make the mission top priority…'_

"Of course." She replied with equal calm, simultaneously spinning and kicking out with her foot, but he blocked with his lower arm. Immediately, she lashed out with her fist, and he dodged, releasing her leg and jumping backwards. But he did not retaliate, merely watching her with hooded lids .

"You've changed." He said simply, his voice dangerously neutral. She did not reply, instead drawing another kunai. His eyes flashed dangerously as she twirled her weapon around her finger a few times, before snapping it in her palm and flinging it at him. He made move to deflect it, and was completely unprepared when it exploded just before it hit him. He coughed, faltering backwards…right into her kunai.

_Her kunai!_

Dark eyes widened. Green eyes narrowed.

"You…how?" He turned his head to meet her eyes. They were cold, so cold, and completely devoid of any emotion. Blood slid down his lower torso as she shoved the kunai deeper. Her eyes remained eerily empty through it all. No emotions. No feelings. No tears.

'…_and you must possess a heart that never shows tears.'_

"Why?" He finally said, his voice a whisper. She broke eye contact, bowing her head and resting it onto his back. She permitted herself a bitter smile.

"Because I _hate_ you," She answered, and slid her kunai up without further hesitation.

Her enemy jerked once, gurgling as the kunai fatally carved its way up to his heart, then with one final shuddering breath, fell still…

…then became a gooey, muddy substance, melting over her hands and melding with the tree branch below them both.

"Really, _Sakura?_" The drawl came right beside her ear, and involuntarily she shivered, the hairs on the nape of her neck rising in reaction to the sensation of his warm breath against her skin, instantly betraying to the world what her true feelings for him were.

Her eyes widened in horror as she realized what just happened. A clone…she had only killed _his clone_.

And he - the _real_ Sasuke - was _right behind her._

---

Liked it? Want me to continue? You know the drill...please review! No flames!

---

-cringes- Sorry this took so long in coming...couldn't really figure out how to start it off. I think I must have rewrote it like, ten thousand times, and I'm still not satisfied with it...--; Damned writer's block. Plus there was the Animethon and OMFG IT WAS SO COOL AND I - heh, yeah, I won't rant. It was my first, and I went crazy there. Then I got Kakashi's gloves, and that made me even happier. XD. But anyways, lol, thanks once more to all you reviewers, I'm really, really, REALLY glad you guys like this fic, even if only somewhat: **Kiria Kare, Aemkea, raikujin, SakuraSasuke29, kasumi, grilledjellyfish, Reven-chan, psychicbunny, It.q.ryu. Shinobi Darkbeak, blackyuki, yin vs yang, daydreamer53221, Snotty Chim-Chim, Byakugan13, RunRAMENRun, Mimiru-Chan, fallendreamer, Kist, Only Secret, LadyMist, Arounai, twigy, lolly pop3, BlackFeatherz29, InuyashaObsessed101, Ori, Uchiha Kumiko, iluvanime493, GUEST-WITH-CAPSLOCK, K-chan, Higurete Michi Toushi, nekozuki10, pureblood01, Zionne, Silver Kitsune6291**, **rayearth-luvr.**

Um...a few replies now (no particular order)...and I SUCK at these...-gulps-

**Higurete Michi Toushi**: Why hello. XD. Yeah, uh, complete change is right. Lol. Thanks, and you flatter me, you liar. :D.

**iluvanime493**: -stares- I actually never realized that. Damn. You'd probably write this story better than I could, lol.

**Uchiha Kumiko**: Thankee! Lengthwise? Hmm...honestly, I don't know. There's going to be quite a few chapters, I think...and depending on a bunch of stuff, I might throw in a sequel, if it's possible or whatnot. Actually, I was also thinking of another story taking place at the same time, except centering more around Naruto...but we'll see. XD.

**GUEST-WITH-CAPSLOCK**: I can't! Not yet. :) It's nowhere near being finished, like I told Uchiha Kumiko...so do keep reading!

**BlackFeatherz29**: Haha, thanks. Same here on being a die-hard SasuSaku fan -high fives- and I'm glad you like it!

**psychicbunny**: It seems like you wouldn't mind if Sakura hurt Sasuke really, really badly...lol.

**Mimiru-Chan**: ...YOU...FLAMED...-cries- Naw, I don't think you're a maniac. But thanks! I do think that you, like psychicbunny, wouldn't mind seeing Sasuke get beaten up. It boggles my mind as to why you both want him, uh, severely hurt...:S

**Byakugan13**: You flatter me as well...-blushes- but thanks! Um...hmm. Lengthwise? Like I said to Uchiha Kumiko, I have no idea...but there'll be quite a bit. It won't end quite yet...I'm just getting into it. XD.

**LadyMist**: Thank you! I actually disliked that chapter quite a bit; I dunno why. But if you liked it, I'm glad!

**OnlySecret**: I UPDATED! No flaming. It'll destroy my confidence and then I probably couldn't write again (I know I'm pathetic that way, shh). And I'll never update...THEN WHERE WILL YOU BE? . Haha...but seriously, arigato. :)

**fallendreamer**: -taken aback- I, uh, hope the updating was okay? -whimpers- Aha, thanks. I don't think it's that great...but if you do, thanks. :D. I'm really trying to improve my writing.

**K-chan**: DAMMIT...I guess you're right. But thanks though.

**Silver Kitsune6291**: Hey there, thanks. :) But I should probably get a beta reader or someone like that…because goodness knows, I probably would benefit from one.

**rayearth-luvr**: Not really, lol…but thank you...:D

Finally, to everyone else unmentioned, THANK YOU ONCE AGAIN! See you all!


	4. Change

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

A/N: OOC. A/U. And _holy crap_. This was long. It took me a long time to write, and I think it's now December the 12th. I'm really, really sorry this took so long to come out. I do hope y'all like it, even if somewhat. Thank you to those who kept bugging me to write and…ah, read on. :) Rated for language.

There were a few things that were bothering him a great deal, and that in itself was bothering him - that _he_, of all people, would be this...bothered. He was Uchiha Sasuke, after all. And Uchiha Sasuke never got bothered. See, he just wasn't like that.

Of course, Uchiha Sasuke was also never one to permit himself to worry over his opponent, since within the span of a few minutes - five minutes was the absolute maximum - he would usually not _have_ an opponent to concern his pretty little head about.

Yet this fight had dragged on for at least fifteen minutes already. He had a right to be perturbed. And this disconcertedness of his was fueled by the many questions he had that were whirling through his mind. Like how she found him in the first place, despite Orochimaru's lair being supposedly "impossible to find"; why she used the _Gokakyu no Jutsu _on him, when they both knew it would be ineffective, seeing that it was one of the jutsus he specialized in; why their current positions were oh-so-reminiscent of a time six years ago when he walked away from the one particular girl who tried to stop him, when he stopped her instead, and when everything changed, for better or worse; why she wore the face of Haruno Sakura, said girl who was involved with that same incident when he was twelve, said girl who kept him as sane as could be, and said girl whom he had spent sleepless nights lying awake thinking about.

Why she smelled like her namesake, even in the midst of a battle.

Oh yes, and was her neck always this slender?

When did she become so...beautiful?

Er...

Now where the _hell_ had those last three questions come from?

The Uchiha kicked himself mentally, for such distracting thoughts were going to cost him this fight. Never mind the fact that they were at a tentative standstill - he needed to concentrate solely on the situation at hand, on _her_.

He nearly laughed. How damned ironic. He had to concentrate on the very person he was trying to wrench his thoughts firmly away from.

Involuntarily, he let out a sigh, and saw her shiver - again - as he exhaled unintentionally on her bare skin, a movement that he, so caught up in his musings, nearly missed.

"I don't believe your last four words," He said. "and it seems like you don't either. Am I right?"

He saw her flinch, yet another movement he would have overlooked had he not been paying close attention to her body language.

"What does it matter?" Her response was terse, tight, and skirted the question entirely. "I'm still going to kill you."

He permitted himself a little smirk. "That doesn't answer my question."

"Why should I?" She retorted.

"Humour me," He drawled, his eyes still glued to her back - well, more so her vibrant pink hair, beautiful locks that a tiny, hastily stifled part of him really, really wanted to thread his hands through to see if it felt as silky and soft as it looked. "I find it hard to believe that so much could change after six years."

He was not expecting her to laugh softly in response. He had never heard a laugh so cold and chilling in his entire life - and that was saying something; he _did_ spend the last few years training under Orochimaru. "You _bastard_," She shook her head, pink hair swirling slightly. "What do you know? All you ever cared about was revenge. Power. Nothing else. _No one_ else."

That...stung him. A _lot_. Her accusation wasn't completely true either. There were - other things...people...he cared about. "You've changed," He finally said, when he found his tongue after a few seconds of floundering for what to say. "Why? You're not the same person you used to be when I lef - we were genins."

This spun her around, and without warning, before he could react - who knew she could move so fast? - she hit him. _Hard_. The force of the impact forced him to stumble back a few feet, and he could only blink in astonishment at her as he regained his footing atop the branch, his eyes refocusing. Her chest heaved as she sucked in mouthfuls of air, something glittering wetly in her eyes.

"Whose fault do you _think_ that was?" She hissed, taking a step towards him, and he unconsciously took a step back. "What the _hell_ did you expect? Are you really that _naïve_, believing that things would be the same as it was when you _left_? Did you truly think," Something slid down her cheek, and she angrily brushed it away. "that nothing had changed since _that_ night? You don't even know half of what's happened since you've left." She gritted her teeth, and something found its way down the other cheek. It dawned on him abruptly that she was crying. And, just like it had so many years ago, his heart clenched painfully. "And you have the _nerve_ to ask why I've changed? You asshole. You selfish prick. You -"

"Sakura," He quietly said, surprised at how the conversation had been steered from him being the interrogator to him being the brunt of insults. "stop."

"Do you want to know how your _friends_ are doing back home?" Emphasis on the word _friends_. He tightened his jaw.

"No." _Shut up._

"Let me update you." A ghost of a smile lingered on her lips, despite the wetness in her eyes. "A lot of things happened after you - left. Naruto was the first to attain the status of ANBU. Team 13 and Kiba followed soon after him. The members of Team 10 are Jounins now, along with Hinata and Shino."

"_Why_ are you telling me all this?" He interrupted with furrowed eyebrows, but she continued on as if he had said nothing, causing his eye to twitch at being ignored completely. What was the point in her catching him up with the ongoings of the last six years? It was not as if he cared how they were doing, did he? What they'd become, how far they'd gotten, whether they'd attain their dreams or not. Naruto obviously hadn't, since he wasn't the Hokage. That almost made him smirk. _Almost_.

"Gaara's been Kazekage for a few years already..."

That he knew. He had been more than surprised when he heard that from Kabuto a few years back, for he would not have expected that bloodlusting maniac to become the Kage of Suna.

"...his brother's a Jounin..."

No surprise there, despite this being news to him. From what he heard concerning Kankuro, Gaara's sand sibling was a formidable opponent, never without more than a few tricks up his sleeves.

"...and his sister's engaged to Shikamaru."

His jaw dropped. Surely he hadn't heard correctly. "What?" He voiced out, closing his jaw with some effort.

A laugh escaped her, and the tense atmosphere around them relaxed a little. "I know! No one expected it, least of all Shikamaru. Although it was quite obvious that they had a thing for one another."

A smile rose unbidden to his face. This Sakura was the one he knew and lov – he knew. It felt a bit natural, talking to her just like that. "He proposed to her?"

She chuckled. "Yes. But apparently it was done while he was drunk on sake, so he claims that he wasn't thinking straight when he proposed. Temari's got the wedding date settled though, when they both reach the age of twenty-one."

Sasuke snorted. "He's doomed."

She laughed again, and a tingle went down his spine as he heard her genuinely giggle. For some reason it felt like old times, like the good old days. "He is," She agreed. "but at least he's got a few more years of his freedom left."

There was someone she still had yet to mention. It took him awhile to realize who it was. "And you?" He tentatively queried. "You've mentioned everyone else but yourself."

"Me? I -" She suddenly stopped, pain sweeping across her face, agony that caused her face to pale so strongly, raw anguish that saw her green eyes widen in fright and barely restrained terror. Her hands, he saw, unconsciously rose to cover her wrists, before jerking and falling to her sides. His eyes narrowed imperceptibly at the slight display of emotion.

Something had happened to her. Something...bad - no, he would even go so far as to say awful. Something he definitely wanted to know about. And something he was sure she would never tell him.

But whatever it was, the moment they had just shared for that brief few seconds was now gone, and the tension in the air redoubled. It was at this point that a faint crackling sound reached his ears, as did the nearly undetectable smell of smoke. The forest below them was still burning, a result of her _Gokakyu no Jutsu_. The problem wasn't the spreading fire; _that_ he could take care of easily, given time. Rather, it was the fact that the smoke and fire was very likely to attract people. Sound-nin. People like Kabuto. Or even worse, Orochimaru.

Her harsh laugh brought him back to reality, snapped him out of his musings. Her visage had hardened, making him wonder if what he had just seen was purely from his imagination. "Never mind me. I shouldn't even have wasted my breath on telling you about the rest. Why would you want to know about me anyway? It's not like it matters. You never cared. All I ever was to you was..._annoying_."

He closed his eyes in frustration, his smile fading. Frustrated at the way she had closed off so quickly. Frustrated at _her_. "Look, I don't recall -"

She cut him off swiftly, and even though her face said differently, her tone reflected a bitterness that he did not see. "Of course not. You never remember the things that you do. Always the things that others _do_ to you. Never what you do to others. Never what you _say_ to others."

_What? _"That's enough." His eyes snapped open, his voice getting colder with each word, anger slowly creeping its way into his tone. "You have no right to judge me." Something stirred within him restlessly before subsiding, but he ignored it, balling his hands into fists.

"Speak for yourself," She shot back. A tiny smile was now obviously visible upon her face, one that served to piss him off further. Those beautiful ruby lips of hers were mocking him, laughing at him. "you prick."

His anger was clouding his judgement, and he had to refrain himself from attacking her. Slowly, he took a deep breath. He was not going to lose his temper. Especially not with his - problem. "Go home." He spat out, spinning around so that his back faced hers. "I'll let you live - today."

A musical chuckle floated towards him, and in it he heard her fully smile. "Still arrogant as ever, Sasuke-_kun_," She mused. He refrained from cringing at the way she pronounced the suffix on his name, venomous and dripping with scorn. "You really are quite hilarious"

"Get out of here," He answered evenly as he turned back to face her slowly. Her face, he realized with certain uneasiness, was completely smooth, emotionless. "I don't want to kill you."

She brought her hand up slowly, and he tensed, but saw that she was only replacing her mask atop her face. Her mask, he duly noted, unsettled him greatly. In many ways, it was exactly like Haku's mask - the image of it was forever ingrained in his mind; his Sharingan _did_ develop during the fight against him - with two curving red streaks slashing across the mask horizontally from right to left, arcing in a slight curve midway up the face when it reached the center and ending abruptly. However, _unlike _Haku's mask, there was no leaf symbol on the forehead of her mask.

And, unlike Haku's mask, instead of the face being a pure white...the mask was black. Jet black.

"Sasuke-kun," Her voice was muffled as she replied. Slowly, he fell into a fighting stance. "I assure you that you won't."

The Uchiha never saw her move, never saw her hand flicker rapidly through the seals of a jutsu that he would have been unfamiliar with anyway. Yet his mind screamed for him to move, to _do something_. He acted on instinct, hands flashing, and not a moment too soon, for the moment he finished, she blurred and appeared in front of him, slamming her hand into his chest, fist ablaze with crackling energy, punching with enough force and power to destroy his internal organs.

Or what _should_ have been his midsection. Instead, her hand tore through wood, bursting the log into pieces of shrapnel, which scattered in various directions through the combined smoke of the jutsu and the smoke rising from the flames below.

"Kawarimi no jutsu," He heard her hiss from his vantage point several metres above where he had previously stood before. _Too close_, he grimly admonished. His right hand rose to his stinging cheek, and when he brought his hand away he saw blood. He closed his fist tightly. _Way too close_.

"Sasuke-kun," Her voice rang out steadily, dangerously. "You can't keep running."

He paused, then flipped down to land in front of her. "If I attack you, you're going to lose. I'm stronger than you are."

"You're not." She replied. "Tsunade-sama is stronger than Orochimaru. Do you know what I mean?"

Warily, he shook his head, keeping her within his sights still.

"It means two things." She removed her mask briefly to smile at him. Her grin, he found, was eerie as hell. "The first is that I _will_ see your death by the day's end."

Sasuke frowned. She just _would not_ get off that topic of killing. It was as if...she was some unfeeling...tool. An ache started from within his chest. How could he have mistaken her for Sakura? "You seem awfully confident in yourself." He kept his eyes locked on hers.

Her smile became wider. Scarier. "I am. Because, lastly, I've gotten stronger." Her grin became feral. "I'm stronger than you."

This made him _flinch_, and he saw her smile stretch even more before she replaced her mask. He could hear the words that were coming after her last sentence, the words that only one person had ever told him before beating the crap out of him. A dull roaring started in his ears, even as anger stirred from deep inside. Anger...and once again, something more. Something dark. Something menacing.

"You - "

Red tinged his vision, bringing to life the phrase "seeing red". She was not going to complete the statement. "_Sakura_ -" Except he no longer saw the pink-haired ex-teammate of his standing in front of him.

" - are - "

Instead, he saw crimson eyes, eyes ringed with black with red with three ebony flecks set in a circle that when activated would spin along the lines in a blur of blood and darkness and -

" - _weak_."

An inarticulate roar of anger ripped from his throat as he lunged at her. Neatly, she sidestepped, instead, slamming a fist into his midsection, sending him back at least several feet so that his back smashed into the trunk of the tree they were still balanced on. Something cracked audibly; he bit back a groan. Most likely a broken rib. _Or two_, he amended, gingerly touching his side.

He suddenly realized that she hadn't been kidding when she said she had gotten stronger.

Then there was no more time to think. She was already flinging eight shuriken at him with devastating and deadly accuracy. Gathering chakra into his feet, he concentrated, and flipped back and _up_, relying on the chakra beneath the soles of his feet to keep him held to the tree, despite him being parallel to the ground. The shuriken embedded themselves into where he had been only milliseconds before. A glint of something on the shuriken caught his eye, and out of pure instinct, he forced himself backwards further up the trunk of the tree, silently hoping that the trees around this area were really as tall as they looked.

Just as he anticipated, the section below him where the shuriken had been flung at exploded, sending metal bits and wooden bits flying in all directions. Those exploding tags were definitely something to be wary about. A cloud of smoke billowed upwards from where the explosion occurred, and warily he looked around for his opponent, knowing that she was most likely planning something -

- and didn't see the fist that shot out from the smoke beneath him until it was too late.

The force of her fist connecting with his chin had his vision going black within a matter of seconds - and it was just _her fist_. No chakra - that was why he sensed nothing amidst the sea of smoke. She had simply hit him with her bare fist. He winced, losing his concentration and tumbling the short distance to the branch, and put out a hand to halt her as he reeled to his feet. She did nothing of the sort, and instead launched a flurry of blows at his upper torso, forcing him backwards step by step...

...and finally, off the branch.

He didn't notice he was falling until he saw her materialize in front of him, the blaze of chakra slowly starting up in her poised-to-strike fist. Ignoring his wavering vision and the aching of his body from a few well-placed blows from less than a minute ago, he summoned up his chakra, and quickly performed a few seals. She struck the moment he finished, and he closed his eyes in concentration as a barely visible barrier shimmered into existence around his entire being in a curving, cocoon-like embrace, effectively halting her fist.

He heard her snarl, and felt the pressure on his shield disappear. Eyes snapped open, he twisted in mid-air, concentrating further on his chakra to adhere to the tree trunk he was falling right beside. Splinters of bark went spinning in all directions as he used the trunk and the friction of his chakra to slow his descent so that he landed safely on the ground. At least he hadn't landed in the middle of the fire.

She continued her attack, relentless in her assault. More shuriken sped at him from nowhere, and he flipped to the side, responding in kind with double the amount of kunai in the direction the shuriken had come from. Senbon needles answered him, and he countered with shuriken.

There was a momentary lull; then, from out of nowhere, she appeared from above him, and he lashed out with his arm.

That was a _bad_ move. She brought her fingers squarely down on his arm, and immediately, he felt his arm go numb. His face twisted in shock.

"Pressure points." She said, alighting gently on the ground in front of the tree. "You can't move your arm unless someone hits that point again."

He grinded his teeth, cradling his useless arm as he jumped backwards to place her squarely within his sights. Fury bubbled from inside his chest. He was losing. _Losing_. It wasn't the nicest feeling in the world. There was no point in him using the Sharingan to try to gain any upper hand; he was sure she knew its strengths and weaknesses. The only way he knew he would win would be by using the cursed seal...

...but he'd be damned before he'd use that.

A plan started in his mind, and it prompted a smile. That...might just work after all. It might just be able to end without further damage to the either of them. He took a step towards her.

Then it happened.

As if a dam had been broken, chakra burst from deep within him, exploding from his entire being in a spray of dark energy to spiral around him upwards and outwards. A startled choke escaped his throat, even as he fell to his knees, and dimly, he saw his opponent tense. He thought he heard her call his name, but he couldn't hear anymore, couldn't see, could only convulse on the ground in an effort to stop the excess chakra that just _wouldn't_ stop flowing out of him before he levelled the entire forest, before he killed _her_.

Rapidly, his thoughts turned to what they usually did in cases like this...except this time, it didn't work. And subconsciously, he knew why. Oh yes, he _knew_ why it wouldn't stop. And it was Sakura's fault.

All.

Her.

Fault.

Lurching to his feet, he staggered to her, and to his surprise - and for some reason, pure annoyance - she took a step towards him, then another, until she stood in front of him. The power leakage brought him to his knees once more, and he struggled to breathe. He was fighting a losing battle. The chakra was going to flare from him in all directions. People were going to die. _Sakura_ was going to die.

_NO!_

With a surge of energy born from panic and anger, he reached up with his hand, the only hand that could move,and grabbed her by the wrists, catching her off-guard and yanking her to the ground beside him. His teeth caught the edge of her mask, and with a quick jerk, tore it off her face, revealing a wide-eyed Sakura. Then, before she could react, before she could move out of his reach, before she did _anything_ -

_- he kissed her._

---

So…how was it? Continue? You know the drill...please review! No flames!

---

Thanks go out to: **Kiria Kare, Aemkea, raikujin, SakuraSasuke29, kasumi, grilledjellyfish, Reven-chan, psychicbunny, It.q. ryu, Shinobi Darkbeak, blackyuki, yin vs yang, daydreamer53221, Snotty Chim-Chim, Byakugan13, RunRAMENrun, Mimiru-Chan, fallendreamer, Kist, Only Secret, LadyMist, Arounai, twigy, lolly pop3, BlackFeatherz29, InuyashaObsessed101, Ori, Fomgoms, iluvanime493, GUEST-WITH-CAPSLOCK, K-chan, Higurete Michi Toushi, nekozuki10, pureblood01, Zionne, Silver Kitsune6291, Yachtzee, ellamoony, Fukari, Lexy the Thief, DanTheGreat, BloodySakuraLeaves, Watashi Wa MuryOku, mughph (XD), kristie, b0rEdToDeAtH, a nice reviewer, Merle, Mana Moon, animEvivvErz, kawaii.athcaq, Lone Sakura, angel-puppeteer, Angelic Warrior, Princess Sakura Haruno, Queen Cow and Steak, Rel, Dark Angelic Kitty, SaNdEr-ThE-rUbBeR-bAnDeR, LittleLetty, Raspberry Polar Bear, Itaka, KuriQuinn, Itonami, Conciliateur, Tenshi no Hana-chan, freakenout, -brezoflower-, Silver Suzaku, Merffles, Sakura-Girl 2005, Fiana, So-kun, Sunran, Ayane Selznick, yoshi92punked, fuu-nk, Icygal237, Nicole, me me me and only me, Airen-kun, DarkNightDreamer, Tsukinowa, Cherry Arrow, The Squabbit, Sakran**

My back hurts, and I'm so tired.

Special thanks to **Fiana**, who was the 100th reviewer!

-UPDATED JAN. 16, 2006-: -throws self at feet of reviewers- I'M SO SORRY FOR THE LACK OF UPDATING. I seriously, seriously am. School's been crazy (despite having a relatively easy courseload) due to my inability to manage my time (feh…). And writer's block kept appearing (THE ULTIMATE BANE OF ALL WRITERS). I mean, I knew how to start Chapter 4, but didn't know how to write it. And in the end, it wasn't supposed to turn out like this…but it did. TT. I'm well aware there's probably a bunch of grammatical mistakes as well…so apologies on that too. I beta-ed it myself the best I could, but being without a beta (still…-sighs-) I'm sure some errors slipped through.

Anyhow. I don't know how to do replies, because some of them date back like…4 months or so. :( Perhaps I should start using the new reply feature and stuff…but here goes. These are replies for Chapter 3. Incidentally, I think doing this (-points below-) is "illegal" in fics now. Oh…well?

**To all the reviewers who told me to update:** thank you, thank you, THANK YOU. And I'm so sorry once more that chapter 4 took ages to come out, but _thank you_ for still bothering to follow this story. This fic would have been long dead if it weren't for you all. And do not fret (and please don't hate me :( ) if you are not individually mentioned below, because you all are equally as awesomely amazingly unbelievably wonderful. -glomps reviewers-

**mughph: **you're so mean. XD. Go eat frogs, ahaha. . AND FOR GOODNESS SAKES, WRITE! So many people want a new fic from you. And I'm one of those people.

**Only Secret:** thank you for not flaming! Haha…and thank you so much for the compliment! I'm glad the scene between Sakura and Tsunade turned out alright. That you found it realistic means that I _do_ have hope as a writer. :)

**Snotty Chim-Chim:** right! . Thanks muchly!

**a nice reviewer**: lol, here I was thinking that I had too much description. --. It's great to know that I lack those adjectives and adverbs, TT. The whole point is, thank you for telling me that! I will be sure to increase the amount of description in this fic. Er, I'll try anyway…

**Kiria Kare:** I'm sorry this chapter didn't have much by way of explanation about what happened between Sakura and Sasuke…but be patient, for explanations will come out in further chapters. XD.

**kawaii.athcaq: **Will they? Won't they? Sasuke took a really big risk kissing Sakura at the end of the chapter, lol. Since she's changed so much…she might just kill him for it…

**BlackFeatherz29: **Why was your brother so mean? EVIL KID (no offense!). And for the record…that part did make me cry -embarrassed look-. Haha, thanks anyway!

**angel-puppeteer: **I…still haven't decided fullyon the ending. Personally, I love and hate tragedy stories…so I don't know…keep reading though! The answer will be revealed at the end. -winks-

**InuyashaObsessed101:** haha, no, although from reviews there are people who were hoping that had happened -sweatdrops- Thanks:)

**Dark Angelic Kitty:** You _must_ go to one! Absolutely imperative! It will be well worth your money and time. And the animethon was my first one ever. And I see you used to live in Canada (yay!). If you ever read this…where did you use to live? (Lol…)

**LittleLetty:** Thank you muchly! Again, I don't quite know how it's going to end, but do keep reading! And OMG: _I love your artwork_. I am a _huge_ fan of your works, despite not having a deviantart account (because I can't draw…). And yeah, er…just thought I'd let you know that. XD

**Itaka:** What! You want Sasuke dead too? OO. Haha…

**SaNdEr-ThE-rUbBeR-bAnDeR:** -hopes name was not misspelled- You were right. . The Sakura in his mind – the one he once knew and relied on to control his cursed seal – has completely changed, and is no longer the…"pure soul" he always envisioned her to be. Whenever he thinks of her, he sees the changed Sakura, and that changed Sakura is not one that can save him (she _is_ trying to kill him). So yeah…as you saw (if you've read up til here, lol) he _wasn't_ able to control his seal.

**Itonami:** …ouch...-depressed look- Aha, thank you! Your review means a great deal to me (and it really does), especially since you're an amazing writer. The reason she's so cold will be revealed though…and perhaps it brings up the question of whether or not Sasuke can bring her back to who she once was; her emotionless-ness was really all his fault. . Stupid Sasuke, leaving Konoha so long ago. -sob-

**Conciliateur:** thank you! Aww, I'm sorry I made you depressed. -bows apologetically- You're the third person who's wondering about the ending…so I do hope that you'll keep following this fic to the very end. :)

**grilledjellyfish:** your review made me laugh aloud! Thank you for having made my day. . And Sasuke didn't give her a big bear-hug…he gave her more. -grins-

**yoshi92punked:** thank you for pushing me. Thank you so much for telling me to update. I'm so sorry I made you wait! Each time you reviewed (over the few days) I felt really bad for not having written…so thank you for pushing me. I hope you liked Chapter 4!

**Nicole:** thank you! SasuSaku all the way! And why GaaHina? Personally I'm a fan of NaruHina…:D

**Airen-kun:** AIREN-KUN! I will be sure to wish you first (obviously; your birthday's before mine...>>). Happy belated anyway (for your last birthday! Lol)! -hugs- Thanks as well for the review! And you must update your fic! XD.

THANKS ONCE AGAIN!


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